DUBLIN - Irish voters have rejected proposals to replace constitutional references to the make-up of a family and a mother’s “duties in the home”, in a significant defeat for the government.

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar had pitched the vote – held on March 8 to coincide with International Women’s Day and counted on March 9 – as a chance to delete some “very old-fashioned, very sexist language about women”.

A proposal to expand the definition of family from a relationship founded on marriage to include other durable relationships was rejected by 67.7 per cent to 32.3 per cent.

A second referendum on a proposal to replace language surrounding a woman’s duties in the home with a clause recognising the role of family members in the provision of care was rejected by 73.9 per cent to 26.1 per cent.

Campaigners argued the proposal would enshrine care as a private responsibility, and not a state one.

Speaking to reporters in Dublin on March 9, Mr Varadkar said voters had given his government “two wallops”.

“It was our responsibility to convince a majority of people to vote yes, and we clearly failed to do so.” REUTERS